[BassLady]

Reading through the tech area brought a couple of questions to mind.

I may be able to get a mixed quartet going in my area. To my mind a mixed quartet in some ways would be more fun than straight SA. Sure, it means we couldn't compete in men's or women's Regionals but it gives a much wider choice of sheet music going SATB or even TTBB.

Men's quartets always sound better than women's to me. There's just no way a female bass (of which I am one) can get those vibrations shaking your boots. My range is simply not low enough for the undertones. So being part of a mixed quartet would give me the lead or tenor, with the men taking bass and bari. So far, so good.

I hadn't given any thought to the difference in sound it might make transposing keys to where everyone can reach the notes (bright vs dark). What other things should I be taking into account for a mixed quartet that I might not have thought of? I'd like to head off problems before they become problems and get the best sound possible.

So far there are two female basses and one male bari.

Any thoughts?
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RobinL

[George Coker]

The only mixed quartet I've ever seen had a male bass singing bass, a female bass singing baritone, a male lead singing lead, and a female lead singing tenor. They sang 'regular' male barbershop charts. I would caution you away from SATB arrangements because the vocal spread would often be huge - tighter harmonies usually sound better. I'd check out Sweet Adeline arrangements and maybe lower the pitch - they are arranged tighter than men's anyway.

It's also tough to just raise the pitches and keep the chord spellings the same. It's a common request of basses like myself, that can't sing well below a G, to just raise the pitch. Raising a half or whole step is usually OK but a minor third or third usually means that there has to be some changes in chord spellings for it to work well or the lead is singing to high. One of the hallmarks of 'normal' barbershop songs is the limited range on the melody - usually an octave and a third. This provides a good working range for the other parts as well. As the notion of popular song entered the radio era it became normal for 'better' singers to be singing and listened to as opposed to singing for yourself. Thus, the melody ranges increased. I've been working on "I Can't Help Gettin' Sentimental Over You" which has many opportunities to use Chinese Sevenths (5 - 3 - flat 7 - root). The problem is that the melody line goes from B flat (octave and whole step below middle C) to F above middle C. This is a melody range of an octave and a fifth. If I raise it to where the leads can easily sing the bottom notes - say a D - that means they have to sing the A above middle C - beyond the capabilities of 'normal' barbershop leads (but not Tony Derosa or Tim Waurick). This means I have to alter the melody line - which I hate to do but can't get out of for this one. I currently have the basses singing the B Flat but it's the seventh of the chord which sounds weird on the bottom. Don't know if I can noodle out a solution or not.

This was probably more than you wanted to hear but I'm at school waiting for my wife to pick me up.

If you have broadband access I'd suggest going to youtube.com and see if there are any mixed quartets to listen to. Might give you some more ideas. There's also those two groups from the '40s - the Modernaires and the Pied Pipers - that were mixed. They weren't acapella though.
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G. Coker

[BassLady]

Looks like our lineup will consist of a male bari/tenor, two female basses and a female lead. Our guy says he doesn't mind being the only rooster in the henhouse and with those ranges your suggestion of SA arrangements transposed down a bit sounds like the way to go.

The music selection will likely prove interesting. Both basses want to try madrigals, the lead has a jazz background and the bari has 15 years of barbershop. The lead isn't too sure about doing Southern Gospel but I've assured her that repertoire has some very, very fine harmonies in it.

Now I have to look into costs and requirements for performing/arranging songs, what is and isn't allowed.
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RobinL

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